He holds a degree in Civil Engineering and a Master's degree in Geotechnics (2008) from EM/UFOP (2004). His area of expertise is the geotechnics of dams, waste rock/tailings piles, and slope geomechanics. He has experience in iron and phosphate mining, having worked at CSN Mineração, Vale SA, Cmoc, Tetratech, Coffey Brasil, among others.